McIlroy frustrated after pretty average US Open showing

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Watch: Frustrated McIlroy has earned the right to do whatever I want

Rory McIlroy says he has "earned the right to do whatever I want to do" after skipping media interviews following his opening two rounds of what he called a "pretty average" US Open performance.

The Masters champion spoke to the media for the first time since the tournament started after Saturdays four-over 74 pushed him back to 10 over par after three rounds.

McIlroy said he hoped Sundays final round will be a case of taking "four and a half hours and out of here" to put a disappointing week behind him.

The 36-year-old has cut a frustrated figure throughout the tournament at Oakmont, only just making the halfway cut on Friday.

And, after Saturdays round, he said making himself less available to some sections of the media is partly due to a leaked story surrounding his driver before last months US PGA Championship.

It emerged the United States Golf Association (USGA) instructed McIlroy to change the club just two days before the event after an equipment inspection deemed it non-conforming.

There was no suggestion that McIlroy had done anything wrong with regards to his driver and he is not contractually obliged to speak to the media at events.

"Its just frustration with you guys [some sections of the media]," the Northern Irishman said in his first post-round interview at a major since winning the Masters at Augusta in April.

"I have been totally available for the past number of years," McIlroy added. "That [driver issue] was a part of it but at Augusta I skipped you guys on Thursday. Its not out of the ordinary as Ive done it before, but I am doing it a little more often. I feel like Ive earned the right to do whatever I want to do."

The Oakmont course has proved to be a challenge for the entire field and, although McIlroy has been happy with some aspects of his game, retaining focus has been an issue at times.

"The name of the game this week is staying patient and Ive tried to do a good job of it out there, but its just one of those golf courses where you can lose patience pretty quickly," he said.

"I have driven the ball as good for a long time, so thats a positive from this week. I was hoping to play better, but didnt."

McIlroy said he has felt "a little bit flat on the golf course" since his Masters triumph in April, which saw him become the sixth player to complete a career Grand Slam of winning all four majors.

Naturally, he is keen to achieve further success, but knew from his slow start to Fridays second round that any chance of collecting a second major of the year this week was gone. Throwing a club in anger on the 12th fairway and smashing a tee box marker with his club on the 17th tee showed the frustrations he was feeling with his game.

But with the shackles off a little, he produced a good finish to squeeze into the weekend action, but was unable to carry that into Saturday as he finished four over for the day.

McIlroy acknowledged anything short of a top performance would be punished on the course.

"Its much easier when youre on the cut line when you dont really care if youre here for the weekend or not," he added of Fridays effort.

"I was thinking, do I want another two days here or not?, but it makes it easier to play when youre in that mindset.

"Ive certainly experienced times when I havent played the way I wanted to. I actually feel like Ive played OK this week, but its just the sort of golf course where the tiniest mistakes get penalised a lot and thats how its felt.

"Youve got to be on every single shot and if you miss a fairway, youre going to be scrambling for par. If you miss your landing spot by a couple of yards, these greens repel the ball into rough and it just makes things very tricky, so youve got to be on your game."

Follow live text commentary of Sundays final round from 18:00 BST on the BBC Sport website and app with radio commentary on BBC Sounds from 20:00.